Lott: Another Armed Civilian Saves The Day

Authored by John R. Lott Jr. via RealClearPolitics,

Over the last few days, Americans have witnessed two attacks that ended very differently.

A stabbing at a Michigan Walmart on Saturday was stopped by an armed man, a Marine veteran, who went to the shooting range but “forgot to take his pistol off his hip.” The New York Times, Associated Press, Washington Post, NPR, NBC News, BBC, and many others completely ignored the gun used to stop the attack. But an eyewitness described how others who had tried to stop the attacker were stabbed, but it took the Marine with a gun to stop the attack. The attack was stopped several minutes before the first responders were able to arrive. One thought is that this hero might get some coverage in the legacy media simply because he is black and the attacker is white.

This case was far from unusual. Between January 2021 and December 2024, concealed handgun permit holders stopped 37 attacks that police said would have turned into mass public shootings if not for their intervention. But they rarely get national news attention.

Unfortunately, after Monday’s attack in New York City, Democrats drew the wrong conclusion. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) responded by calling for a federal assault weapon ban and blaming the tragedy on the absence of such a law.

Their gun control laws ensure that there won’t be any armed civilians there to save the day. The murderer who killed four people broke numerous gun control laws – he openly carried a rifle that was already illegal to possess or carry in the state. New York State and New York City prohibit open carry of loaded long guns in public and ban so-called assault weapons, such as an ARâ??15 style rifle. Even concealed carry permits do not authorize openly carrying a rifle in public. 

Meanwhile, the law-abiding victims were defenseless, disarmed by the city’s strict regulations. There are currently only about 6,000 active concealed handgun permits in a city with almost 7 million adults, so less than 1% of adults. And carrying a permitted concealed handgun is extremely difficult as there is a very long list of places where you are banned from carrying (e.g., public transportation such as subways, any places that serve alcohol, Times Square, government buildings and educational facilities, and public gatherings). The total costs for getting the permit run about $770 (for fees to the New York Police Department and the required course).

The problem is simple: Someone intent on murdering four people won’t be deterred by extra gun control penalties. Even if the killer had survived, he would have already been facing four life sentences, which makes adding a few more years meaningless. For attackers who expect to die during the assault – as most mass public shooters do – those laws carry no weight at all.

But for law-abiding citizens, the consequences are severe. Violating these laws could turn them into felons and upend their entire lives. The laws meant to stop criminals end up disarming the innocent instead.

These murderers take advantage of the laws that ensure they will be the only ones with weapons. Again and again, diaries and manifestos of mass public shooters show a disturbing pattern: They deliberately choose locations where they know their victims can’t fight back due to restrictive gun laws. While it remains unknown whether this particular killer made such a calculation, his actions align with a pattern we’ve seen repeatedly in other cases. It isn’t too surprising that 92% of mass public shootings occur in places where guns are banned.

Two of the four people murdered in the New York City attack were security guards, but people don’t appreciate what an extremely difficult job uniformed police have in stopping these active shooting attacks. “A deputy in uniform has a difficult job in stopping these attacks,” said Sheriff Kurt Hoffman in Sarasota County, Florida. “These terrorists have strategic advantages in determining the time and place of attacks. They can wait for a deputy to leave the area or pick an undefended location. Even when police or deputies are in the right place at the right time, those in uniform who can be readily identified as guards may as well be holding up neon signs saying, ‘Shoot me first.’ My deputies know that we cannot be everywhere.”

In fact, even though civilians stop more of these active shooting attacks, 19 police officers were killed in these attacks versus two civilians with permitted concealed handguns. And surveys of academics who have published peer-reviewed empirical research on firearms show that criminologists and economists strongly support letting people carry concealed handguns in order to stop mass public shootings.

While politicians rush to call for new laws after each tragedy, they often ignore the basic reality that killers intent on murder are attracted to attack in places with strict gun control. Instead, those laws disarm only the potential victims, leaving them vulnerable and defenseless.

John R. Lott Jr. is a contributor to RealClearInvestigations, focusing on voting and gun rights. His articles have appeared in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, New York Post, USA Today, and Chicago Tribune. Lott is an economist who has held research and/or teaching positions at the University of Chicago, Yale University, Stanford, UCLA, Wharton, and Rice.